Emergency relief with remote control



June 23, 1931. A. T. DUDLEY EMERGENCY RELIIEE WITH REMOTE CONTROL- Filed June 21, 1928 BY fr Arromwsv.

Patented June 23, 1931 ANDREW T. DUDLEY, OF PORT ARTHUR-TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO THE OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE TEXAS com-2m,

EMERGENCY RELIEF WITH REMOTE CONTROL Application filed June 21,

This invention relates to an improved arrangement of an emergency draw-off, and is especially intended and other forms of treatment of oil.

In pipe stills, and otherheaters comprising pipe sections through which oil is conducted to be heated, which are now Widely used in the 'oil industry for distilling and cracking operations, it has been the practice to provide a draw ofi' valve located at the lowestpart for use with pipe stills heating units used in the of the still to'permit, the discharge of the still contents in emergencies, especially after the failue of a tube or tubes and for clean-out operations. This particular location of the draw-ofi valve, presents the disadvantage that-should one of the lower tubes or sections fail or burn out, which not infrequently happens when the lower tubes are subjected to the highest temperatures, a substantial proportion of the oil contained in the heater drains through the break in the tube, while the lower-lying drawofl valve is discharging the still contents. Such an arrangement increases the fire hazard incident tothe processing of oil, in that it is possible for relatively large quantities of oil to escape freely area of the heater before the still contents can be discharged through the draw-ofi valve.

To overcome this drawback, the emergency draw-off valve, according to this invention is placed in a position in advance of, and preferably somewhat above the hottest tubes of the still or heater. With the draw-off valve in this location, it is possible, in emergency, to quickly stop the circulation of oil to the lower lying sections of the heater or still, and at the same time discharge practically the entire oil content of the still, sections or pipes above the point of location of the draw-ofi", leaving only a relatively small quantity of oil to escape through any break or tube failure in a section below the point of the draw-off.

A further feature of in-the placing of the emergency or control valves on the outs de of the still wall. This position of the valves is very advantageous, heat of as the valves,

not being exposed to the it has been found in practice,

into the high temperature and with certainty, allthis invention resides.

1928. Serial No. 287,275.

the furnace, will be less liable to become inoperative. In addition, the valves and their operating means would be less liable to become damaged in case of an accident to the' still. Furthermore, this location of the valves facilitates their safe and convenient operation, especially in case of fire, or other emergency necessitatin a shut-down.

In order to further facilitate operation of the valves, the latter may be power actuated and controlled from a distance. From the description that follows, it will be seen that the valves may be provided with a drive, preferably electric, the controlling switch for which'can be located at a considerable. distance from the stil- It is obvious, of course, that other operating mechanism may be employed, to be actuated by a difl'erent type of power; even manual operation of the valves may be resorted to, if desired.

. The accompanying drawings represent diagrammatically the invention as applied to a pipe still used for crackingoperations, andin which: Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the still (with the wall removed) and,

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the drawoff connection with suitable motor or power operating mechanism.

In the drawings, 1 represents the furnace Wall; 2, 3, 4, etc. a number of horizontal rows of metallic tubes connected in series, each row consisting of tubes'running across the furnaee from front to back and connected at their ends with each other. The last' row 6 of the horizontal tubes may be connected as by a tube 7 with the tubes 8, 9 arranged along the sides of the still, and intended to be heated by radiant heat by suitable burners 40. The oil enters the still at 10 and circulates through the banks of tubes, 1, 2, 3, etc., being progressively heated as it travels downwards by heat from the burners 40, until in passing through the radiant heat tubes 8 and 9 the oil attains the highest temperatures of the still. The heated oil leaves the still at 11. A draw-off valve 41 may be placed between the tubes 8 and 9, as shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be seen that row 12, which is shown as six rows in advance of the radiant tube section of the still, is connected with the next lower row 3 through a bent pipe section 14 which extends through the furnace wall. In the lower limb 15 of the U section 14 a valve 16 is provided for controlling the flow of the oil between the two rows 12 and 13. There is further connected to the U-section 14, and in advance of valve 16, a pipe 17 leading to any suitable storage tank not shown in the drawings. This pipe 17 is controlled by a valve 18. The spindles of the valves 16 and 18 may be provided with worm wheels 19 and 20, to en age worms 24, 23, secured on a common sha 25 and driven through a suitable train of gearing by any type of motor, preferably an electric motor 26, which may be controlled from a. distance as by a switch 27. The gears 19 and 24 for actuating the valve 16 are cut so as to produce a drive in one direction while the gears 20, 23, together form a drive in the opposite direction for the valve 18. It is obvious that since both gears are driven from the same motor shaft, one valve may be actuated toward closed position while the other is being opened, and vice versa. It is also clear that each of said valves may be provided with an individual drive in order that the valves may, if desired, be operated inde-' pendently of each other.

In normal operation of the still, the valve 18 is closed while the valve 16 is open. The oil to be processed is pumped into the still or heater through the inlet 10 and flows .through the upper rows of tubes. When it reaches the end section of row 12, the oil will traverse the U-section 1 1 and since the valve 16 is open, it flows uninterruptedly into the first section of row 13. From here the oil runs through the lower rows, being gradually heated during its course downwards. If, through overheating or any other cause, failure of one of the radiant heat tubes should occur, necessitating the draining of the still,

the switch 27 that may be located at a remote point will be closed by the operator and power will be supplied to the motor 26, which y rotating in the proper direction will close the valve 16 and open the valve 18, thus enabling the safe draining of the oil contained in the still above row 13, through the valve 18 and pipe 17 to a storage tank, or other receptacle. The valve 16 being closed, circulation of oil in the heater beyond this point, and to any of the lower lying tubes is prevented, leaving only a relatively small quantity' of oil to escape through the break in a lower tube. The quantity that is so released is insuflicient to cause appreciable damage, and resulting fire is easily controlled before the heater or plant can be seriously damaged. If the still in addition be provided with the usual emergency draw-ofli valve at the lowest point, this valve may also be opened, and the oil contained in the section or sections below the damaged tube can be safely drained away to a suita le storage tank.

It is obvious that the arrangement disclosed may be used either alone or in addition to the usual draw-oflprovided at the lowest .point of the still. It will be also understood that while the arrangement has been described with reference to a still used in the treatment of oils, the invention is clearly not so limited, but may be applied to stills of the same or other types used for treating liquids, or to any type of tubular apparatus whether used for heat treatment or not, and where similar problems are presented.

I claim:

1.. A pipe still comprising a plurality of tube sections throu h which a fluid to be heated is circulated and arranged so that the sections of tubing nearest the exit are exposed to radiant heat, heat retaining walls surrounding said still, means for heating the tubes containing the fluid, means for interrupting the flow of said fluid at a point in advance of the hottest part of the fluid-containing system, and means located at said point for diverting the flow of said fluid from said system.

2. A pipe still comprising heat retaining walls forming a heating chamber, a plurality of tube sections through which fluid to be heated is circulated and arranged so that the sections of tubing nearest the exit are in the hottest part of said chamber and are exposed to radiant heat, means for heating the tubes in said chamber, and means for stopping the circulation of the fluid to the tubes exposed to radiant heat and diverting the course of the circulating fluid comprising a U-pipe section projecting through one of said walls and connecting two of said tube sections, a valve in said U section, a divertin conduit connected with said U section in a vance of said valve, and a valve in said conduit.

3. In a pipe still comprising a plurality of superposed tube sections connected in series and enclosed within heat retaining walls, in-

let and outlet connections for the still by which fluid to be treated is admitted at the top and withdrawn from the bottom of the still, a burner fol-heating the still positioned near the bottom thereof to heat the lower lying tube sections by radiant heat, and an emergency draw-off arrangement comprising a U-shape pipe forming the connection between two adjacent pipe sections which lie slightly above the sections exposed to radiant heat, the U pipe extending outwardly through the side wall of the still and provided with a 'valve bywhich circulation to lower lying 4:. In a pipe still comprisinga plurality of withdrawn from superposed tube sections connected in series and enclosed within heat retaining walls, inlet and outlet connection for the still by which fluid to be treated is admitted at the top and the bottom of the still, a burner for heating the still, positioned near the bottom thereof to heat the lower lying tube sections by radiant heat, and an emergency draw-off arrangement comprisin a -shape pipe forming the connection ietween two adjacent pipe sections which lieslightly above the sections exposed to radiant heat, the U pipe extendin outwardly through the side wall of the st] 1 and provided with a valve by which circulation to lower lying tube sectlons may be cut off, a draw-off pipe connected to the U pipe in ad- Vance of the said valve, a valve in the drawhand this 9th day of J une, 1928.

oil pipe, and distance-controlled operating 1 means for actuating thetwo valves in :emergency so that the first named valve will be .closed as the other is opened In witness whereof I have hereunto set my ANDREW T. DUDLEY. 

